I don't think it's just a rumor anymore that Gilbert Gottfried has been banned from the Howard Stern Show.

He hasn't been on in nearly 3 years and has recently (via social media) made allusions to no longer being welcome there.

Today I was surprised to learn that when one Googles "Gilbert Gottfried banned from Stern" a variety of news sites confirm just that! It should be noted that virtually all of these sites have no credibility and are simply copy/paste-ing the same story with no investigation on their part.

Converesely, that same Google seach hit on a few reddit entries and message board posts that did prove helpful.

Also, the story they're reporting is over 20 years old, from when Gilbert WAS banned from the Show by Howard for appearing on then-competitor John DeBella's morning show back in the.. what? Late 80's maybe?

Of course this isn't what people are looking for. It's a rather cruel bit Howard pulled on Gilbert way back in the day.

Obviously, that ban didn't last, but this new one - the one we want information about - seems to have stuck.

I went back through MarksFriggin to see exactly where the end came. Obviously, Gilbert's banishment wasn't announced to the masses, but when searching the simple phrase "Gilbert Gottfried Visits" you are returned a semi-complete legend of the comic's last decade of appearances:

Mark may be missing a few, but this is the count I came up with: In 2007, Gilbert had 5 visits. In 2012, just one. And nothing since.

I decided to examine the most recent appearances. I listened to most of them and read the MarksFriggin for all of them:

11-17-2010
I remember hearing this one live. Gilbert is on for his usual hour-long segment, teasing his upcoming book to be published the following Spring. This is also the episode where the infamous Cupcake Incident took place.

Minutes after Gilbert's segment ends, this happens:

Howard said Gilbert was out in the hall spitting on the cupcakes because it drives Lisa G nuts. The Howard TV guys had some video of him doing that. Doug was in the hall asking which one he spit in. Gilbert was just laughing after spitting in one and putting it back. Howard said Doug would entertain that all day long. - MarksFriggin

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I find it interesting that's all that was said about the whole mess that day. Everyone, though disgusted, seems to understand it's a gag - albeit a gross one. Honestly, the whole thing seems like a work to push HowardTV..

30 minutes later, Gilbert (presumably at home or on his way home) calls in to ask Howard if he would be good enough to write the foreword to his upcoming memoir. Howard, of course, refuses, claiming he was done writing forewords after Greg Fitzsimmons cajoled him into writing his.

Howard said that really broke his heart to tell him no. He said it really does. Now it'll be another month in therapy to get him over that. He said Gilbert reminds him of a damaged woman and it breaks his heart. He said that was the most difficult thing to say no to the guy. - MarksFriggin

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You know who reminds me of a damaged woman? Instead of going to therapy, Stern should have sucked it up and written the foreword. That would've been the right thing to do. Instead, he snubs someone who added so much to the show for so many years.
If you want to retire from writing forewords, fine, but do so AFTER Gilbert's. That would be classy and actually make sense.

After Gilbert's next appearance, Howard will reveal he belives Gilbert is secretly angry with him. Gee, I wonder why that might be??

During this episode's Wrap-Up Show, a caller asks a question that receives an unusually satisfying answer from Gary:

Jon took a call from a guy who asked why Gilbert hasn't been on more often. Gary said that Gilbert is the one who calls and asks to be on the show. He said today was also a rebooking from about a month and a half ago when Gilbert had to cancel. The caller asked why he doesn't sit in on the news. Gary said they haven't done that in a long time. He said that they don't do that anymore with anyone. The caller said that Gilbert is the guy who started the whole thing. Gary said that's right but they ended it. - MarksFriggin

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I meant "satisfying" in that it confirms a lot of things we already knew, though doesn't give any real insight into why they were decided upon.

4-26-2011
At the beginning of the episode, Howard says he thinks he's "done with Gilbert" for mentioning him in his book in what Howard interpreted as an unflattering manner. He seems to be half-joking, but I think he's also foreshadowing..

This Gilbert interview is a good one. The Cupcake Incident is never brought up and Gilbert has Howard laughing hard several times. Howard seems to really enjoy the segment.

During the Wrap Up show Gary says Gilbert "was great today" and they got a lot out of him for once. Although,he thought Howard was genuinely hurt by Gilbert "painting him as an asshole in a book 15 years later."

Note - This Gilbert appearance resulted in the infamous Wall Spitting Incident, yet it was never brought up during that day's Show or Wrap-Up Show. This incident seems to be another HowardTV exclusive that won't be mentioned until the next day..

i.e. until it is in the can and ready for purchase

4-27-2011
Forty-five minutes into the show, spurred by a "random" phone call from Wheels, the Wall Spitting Incident from the previous day is finally brought up. Howard says he has a "weird thing going on with Gilbert" that he's "gonna hafta deal with".

This cues the convenient HowardTV mentions ("I don't wanna see the clip, guys, cuz I'll throw up!") as Robin feigns shock upon learning of it for the first time.

Howard believes Gilbert is angry with him about something; that Gilbert is "really spitting on him" and that it's disrespectful.

By now I feel it's obvious this is manufactured controversy designed to keep the show compelling and sell a couple HowardTV subs. Their sleight-of-hand is well oiled, but doesn't hold up under the scrutiny that naturally accompanies hindsight.

After their poorly veiled on-air commercial, the Wall Spitting is never again mentioned during the show. The Wrap Up Show was another story..

Jon mentions the spitting, to which Gary responds (verbatim): "You should get Tim (Sabean) in here. Tim was fucking livid yesterday. He came into my office, goes 'That's it! Fuck him! He's never coming back here. That was bullshit!' Tim got very, very upset by it."

Tim addresses his disgust with the incident. Says he missed seeing it happen, but they played him the tape ($$$) and he became enraged. Says he had to have a special cleaning crew come in and wash down everything.

Benjy chimes in, implying that they (HowardTV) may have goaded Gilbert into it by asking "Hey are you gonna spit again??" *wink-wink*nudge-nudge*

Jon picks up on it and spells it out "Are you saying he was encouraged by the HowardTV guys to.."

Benjy says that's his guess.

Tim adds he seriously doubts Gilbert will be allowed back in the building.

HowardTV camera man Greg Karmel claims he didn't encourage Gilbert; that Gilbert asked about the cupcakes after he came out of the studio. Greg told him there were no cupcakes today, but showed him where they usually sit, saying "Here's where you would normally spit on the cupcakes." Gilbert responds by - you guessed it - spitting on the table.

Ronnie later says Greg did indeed remind Gilbert to spit on the table. Gary agrees that Gilbert probably was encouraged by HowardTV. Ronnie says he would have made Gilbert clean it up, but worried doing so might ruin whatever HowardTV was doing.

They are literally admitting to it at this point, yet it seems Gilbert wasn't in on the gag, as he tweeted his response to it later that day:

Gilbert was on the show a year later! I completely spaced on this appearance.

10-15-2012
This is actually a very good interview. It gets a bit weird with New Age Howie attempting to play therapist with Gilbert, but ends up growing into a very warm exchange between the two men. Gilbert even throws in a Moms Mabley impression for good measure.

It's kind of a "Greatest Hits" package from Gilbert, with Gottfried breaking down the Singing Rabbi and Howard actually encouraging his "Hello 'Dere!" black voice. They talk at length about Jerry Seinfeld and Groucho Marx and end with a frank conversation about comedy, phony outrage and insincere apologies. Howard even plays a couple of fan-favorite prank calls featuring Gilbert's voice. They seem to be on very good terms.

So good, in fact, it can only make me think this is Howard saying "Goodbye!" without actually saying it..

Maybe that was the plan all along? Howard decided to get rid of Gilbert after Gilbert "disrespected" him and spent over a year working up to it. Hoping nobody would notice..

Now I'm just being conspiratorial, but whatever the reason, Gilbert has not been back since.

However, this did happen:

4-29-14
At the top of this show in early 2014, Howard spent a good 10 minutes defending Gilbert from Shecky Greene, who had evidently torn up his membership card and walked out on a Friar's Club Roast over Gilbert's performance. Howard says several nice things about Gilbert and you don't feel there's any animosity between the two.

But something changed..

Over the last couple years, by Gilbert's own admission, we know this to be true:

So.. what is the reason? Because, if I discovered anything spending the bulk of my Saturday researching, it's that "Spit-Gate" is total horseshit.

So I implore those who may ACTUALLY KNOW; who clandestinely lurk this board to step up and give us a real answer. Somebody's gotta know something. Because the official/unofficial story does not add up.

Gilbert had a tendency to catch some shit from the listeners...but I fucking loved the guy. You want to talk about non-pc? There's your reason for the ban. Howie doesn't want to make waves anymore. Family friendly horseshit and all. I still laugh at the Gilbert appearances. You can hear Howard squirm towards the end every time.

I love Gilbert, he was great on the show. The cupcake thing was disgusting, but I really don't think that put him on the outs with Howie. Howard is passive aggressive to the max. It must have been a combo of all of the things listed above. Gilbert is not famous enough for Howard and not pc for our evolved boy so he was put out on the Howard Stern "they're around" pasture..

What's he supposed to do? Dice? Dracula? Artie? Gilbert's marginally funny and got mercy booked for years... If he does something shocking or has something other than hahas to plug, I'm sure he'll be in

I'm pretty sure Gilbert's appearance on The Joan Rivers Roast nailed his coffin. It's fair to assume that Robin -- despite her manic laughter during his act (she's good at that), must have been enraged by his comments. At around 0:32

What's he supposed to do? Dice? Dracula? Artie? Gilbert's marginally funny and got mercy booked for years... If he does something shocking or has something other than hahas to plug, I'm sure he'll be in

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Gilbert's hilarious. I could only fathom finding him "marginally funny" if you're evaluating based on the satellite years, which were always his four impressions, lame pop-psych, and about six "Hey Bindi, you wanna bend on this" replays. Stern's fault, not Gilbert.

Ronnie the Limo Driver and the crack security team at SIRIUS are on standing orders not to permit anyone or anything funny on the Howard Stern Show. And, dammit, they have done a fine job on honoring those orders.

I'm pretty sure Gilbert's appearance on The Joan Rivers Roast nailed his coffin. It's fair to assume that Robin -- despite her manic laughter during his act (she's good at that), must have been enraged by his comments. At around 0:32

He was fuckin' brilliant that night

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But The Wigman wasn't mad enough not to steal his Joan Rivers eulogy directly from Gilbert.

I can't find a date, but I know there was an appearance where Gilbert called Obama the N-word. Even though it was obviously done for comedic shock value, Howard doesn't tolerate the use of that word -- unless he's playing us a rap song he heard that uses the N-word excessively, or using the word for educational purposes when lecturing whiteys. Howard edited Gilbert's comment from the replays, so it obviously shook him.